


Good Karma

by anothersouladrift



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Karma - Freeform, Loki and Darcy have a serious discussion, Wheel of Fortune, tarot card, tasertricks - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-04 23:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothersouladrift/pseuds/anothersouladrift
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Loki get stuck spending the evening together. They end up having a serious discussion about their places in the universe, and karma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Karma

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for sadirapookie's Darcy Lewis: Tarot Card Challenge. I got Wheel of Fortune. Please let me know if I've gotten anything terribly wrong about karma. Thanks, and enjoy!

“Lady Darcy!” The loud pounding on her door continued, now accompanied by the unmistakable voice of her favorite Norse God. “Coming, coming!” Darcy scurried towards the door, grumbling something about not being able to even finish an episode of Buffy without an interruption. She reached the door of her apartment and flung it open, greeted by a sheepish looking Thor. “What’s up Thor?”

“What is up..?”

“How are you? What’s going on? Why are you here?” Darcy answered, and then cringed at how bitchy she was coming across. It wasn’t Thor’s fault that he was the fifth interruption within the first thirteen minutes of starting an episode. She was about to apologize when a snort came from the hall, somewhere behind the mountain that was Thor. Darcy raised her eyebrows and tried to peer around Thor only to be blocked by more… Thor. Who was looking a bit strange. “Who’s that?” Darcy asked Thor.

“My brother has accompanied me on this fine evening! May we enter?” Thor answered, a bit too enthusiastic for Darcy’s taste. She narrowed her eyes at Thor, but opened the door wider to allow them access. Thor nodded his thanks and walked in, Loki didn’t even spare her a glance as he strode in. Darcy rolled her eyes and closed the door.

Thor was standing awkwardly in the kitchen, and Loki had leaned himself against the opposite counter, a bored expression on his face. “Sooooooo, what did little old me do to get two Norse Gods in my kitchen? “ Darcy asked, her gaze switching back and forth between Thor and Loki. “Shouldn’t you and Jane be out … celebrating your return from Asgard?” She asked Thor after getting no response from her initial question.

Thor cleared his throat, only to mumble incoherently. “Hmmm?” Darcy asked. What on earth had the God of Thunder mumbling? Thor cleared his throat again, and this time Darcy could make out what he was saying. “Jane requested that I come to her apartment… alone. However, it is a term of Loki’s release to my custody that that he have someone watching him at all times. I was hoping that….” Darcy cut him off before he even finished the sentence. “No.”

“Lady Darcy, I know-“

“I said no. Nope. No way. Not happening. I am not going to babysit the freaking God of Mischief!” Darcy said resolutely. Unfortunately for her, that was when Thor decided to pull out the big guns.

\-----

Darcy didn’t know how Thor had done it, but ten minutes later he was leaving her apartment, leaving Loki behind.

“So,” Darcy said as she shut the door behind her, drawing out the syllable. “What would you like to do this evening, oh God of Mischief?”

Loki gazed at her, a blank, unreadable expression on his face.

“Wow, I had better get some good karma out of this.” Darcy muttered as she walked back into her living room.  She sat down on the couch and began to search for the remote.

“Karma?”

Darcy jumped about three feet off the couch at the sudden appearance of Loki sitting next to her. She had known that he still had his magic, but she hadn’t ever seen him use it. Apparently he was willing to go through whatever punishments Odin had thought he deserved, so he had gotten to retain it. Or something. Darcy was a bit fuzzy on the details, to be honest.

“Jesus Christ!”

“No, Loki.” Came the reply, a smirk playing at his lips.

“You scared me on purpose!”

“Karma?” Loki asked again, ignoring her rage.

Darcy blew a breath out from between her lips as she resettled herself on the couch.

“Karma is the belief that what goes around, comes around. Like if you do good things, with good intent, then good things will happen to you, or if you do bad things, with malicious intent, then bad things will happen to you. It’s also the idea that the actions you take in this life build to a certain destiny in the next. One where you atone for all that you have done wrong, or one where you reap the rewards of your past life.”

Loki’s eyebrows knit together at her explanation. He was silent for so long that Darcy had begun to search for the remote again, when suddenly Loki spoke.

“This is a Midgardian belief?”

“I guess so.”

“And how does one know when you are done ‘atoning’?” He asked, almost cautiously.

Darcy bent her head in thought. “Well, I’m no expert, but to me it would seem that you are done atoning when it doesn’t feel like atonement anymore. You would have to reach the place where you can submit yourself to a higher authority, and turn from serving one’s self, which technically atonement is self serving, to serving others.” She answered seriously.

Loki’s frown deepened, “But how does one even go about reaching that point?” His hands rubbed his face briskly in frustration.

Darcy’s eyes widened in surprise. The God of Mischief was asking _her_ advice on how to reach self actualization. Talk about surreal.

 Darcy decided she was done with this ‘hypothetical’ BS. So the God of Chaos might kill her on the spot. What a way to go, right?

“Look, Loki. I don’t have all the answers. But in your case, from what I’ve heard, and read anyway, it sounds like you have had to put up with a lot of shit.”

Loki was staring at her, but he didn’t say anything, so she continued.

“I mean, you have had your beliefs completely shaken. People who you’ve trusted your whole life, and ideas that have been ingrained in you since birth, and suddenly, its all a lie? No one would cope well. So, to me, anyway, your reactions make a bit of sense. Which who knows, maybe I should be concerned and get my head looked at.” Darcy paused for a moment, seeming to think it over.

“But I don’t think so. I’m not saying what you’ve done is justifiable. I mean, talk about an overreaction.” Darcy hurried on, not wanting to see Loki’s response to that. “I think what’s important is the present. You’re trying to make amends. You’re trying to make up for what you’ve done wrong. But it isn’t enough. And it isn’t going to _be_ enough until you change your attitudes and past beliefs. You have to change your beliefs so that your beliefs can change your future experiences. You have to face down your demons, so to speak, and find the truth. Which might just be that yes, your parents were wrong for hiding the truth from you, but they did it with the best of intentions. And it might be that even though you are a frost giant-” At this Loki took a sharp intake of breath. “You are only a monster if you choose to be. I think you have to come to a place where you can accept that, and accept yourself, and then, finally, you might be done atoning.” Darcy inhaled deeply, a bit out of breath.

Loki was still staring at her, his mouth actually gaping open, a shocked expression on his face. Darcy swallowed thickly and turned to look for the remote again. Finding it, she finally resumed watching Buffy.

\----

Two episodes of Buffy later Thor arrived to collect Loki. He still hadn’t said anything, but he hadn’t tried to kill her either, so frankly Darcy was okay with it. He was actually a pretty interesting guy, underneath all that damage. He asked good questions, anyway. After Thor’s profuse thanks, she let them out the door. As Loki walked past her she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and grasping his arm. “If you want to talk about karma again, you know where to find me.” She said quietly, so Thor wouldn’t hear. She let go of his arm, and turned to shut the door, but he had snagged her hand. He pulled it to his lips, and pressed the softest of kisses on the back of her palm. Releasing it gently, he murmured, “Thank you,” and then he followed after Thor.

  


End file.
